Half of 20 most accident-prone intersections located in Macomb County

The intersection of 12 Mile and Dequindre roads had the 4th-highest frequency of auto crashes in southeast Michigan between 2008 and 2012, according to the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (RAY SKOWRONEK/THE MACOMB DAILY)

Bonnie Erb is accustomed to seeing police officers and paramedics rushing up to auto crashes about a hundred yards from the Dunkin’ Donuts/Baskin Robbins shop on Dequindre Road at 12 Mile Road where she is a manager.

“A couple of our regulars will say it’s a bad intersection, so they’re familiar with it,” she said.

Drivers and pedestrians would be wise to be a little more cautious when approaching the intersection of 12 Mile and Dequindre. It has had more accidents than any other intersection in Macomb County during the last five years -- and is the fourth-worst intersection in southeastern Michigan, according to an analysis of crash data by a regional planning group.

Erb said one of her shop’s employees recently walked to work but was nearly struck by a motorist who failed to stop at a red signal. A different worker who drove to work barely avoided colliding with a different driver who went through a red light.

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“One was three weeks ago and the other was five weeks ago,” Erb said.

Located on the border of Macomb and Oakland counties, 12 Mile/Dequindre recorded an average of 60.8 collisions from 2008 to 2012, the last year of accident statistics reviewed by the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments.

Thirty-four percent of those accidents involved rear-end collisions during that 5-year period.

In 2012, slightly more than one-half of the accidents at Dequindre Road and 12 Mile involved angled impact or head-on crashes with drivers turning left. Elderly or young drivers were most likely to be involved in the collisions. Motorists over age 65 were behind the wheel in 15 of the crashes two years ago, while 21 of the drivers involved were between 16 and 24 years old.

Overall, young drivers were involved in 41.6 percent of the collisions at the intersection.

Compared to 12 Mile at Dequindre, the frequency of accidents is slightly less at the intersection of Garfield Road at 19 Mile Road in Clinton Township, which averaged 58.4 accidents per year during the same 5-year period, placing it fifth on the region’s crash-frequency rankings.

When it comes to crash-prone locations, motorists in Macomb County drive through some of the worst spots in southeast Michigan. Ten of the top 20 accident sites in the seven-county region that also includes Wayne, Oakland, St. Clair, Livingston, Washtenaw and Monroe counties, are located in Macomb.

The intersection in southeast Michigan with the most crashes from 2008-12: Ford Road and Haggerty in Canton.

The worst in Oakland County: Southfield Road at 11 Mile.

Elsewhere in Macomb County, Ryan Road at 15 Mile in Sterling Heights, and eastbound 11 Mile at Van Dyke in Center Line, were ranked third and fourth, respectively, of the county’s most accident-prone intersections during the 5-year period. Ryan/15 Mile, in fact, had the most crashes – 61 – of any intersection in Macomb in 2012.

All of the intersections that comprise the dubious top 20 in southeast Michigan are in Oakland, Wayne and Macomb counties.

Perhaps not so surprising is that the worst of the worst are among the most heavily traveled in the three counties.

For purposes of its study, SEMCOG reviewed traffic crash data compiled by Michigan State Police. Any accident that occurred within 150 feet of the intersection was counted in the total for each location.

SEMCOG updates its traffic crash data every year, based on traffic crash reports compiled by the Michigan State Police, and makes that information easily searchable online.

The form police officers use on the street is called a UD-10. The current form has been in use for 20 years and records information like time of day and weather conditions for each crash.

The reports are used by road commissions and planning organizations like SEMCOG.

SEMCOG is the federally-designated Metropolitan Planning Organization, making it the lead agency for prioritizing road projects to receive federal funding in southeast Michigan.

“We started putting crash data up on our website years ago,” said Carmine Palombo, deputy director of SEMCOG. “What we’ve been able to do over the years is add other analytical tools to make it more useful.

“It’s a good thing that it’s out there,” Palombo said. “It helps us when you’re looking at prioritizing dwindling transportation dollars in the areas that do the most good.”

Back at 12 Mile at Dequindre, at the border of Warren and Madison Heights, collision figures at the intersection are recorded for both cities.

“I believe the reason, and I don’t have any scientific research to support this, is that particular intersection was one of the first intersections to have varying cycles with left-hand turns,” he said. “It seems like there’s a lot of confusion (among drivers). Speed never appears to be a factor.

“People would explain to me the cycles confuse them, that if they didn’t get involved in an accident, they would be very close to getting in one,” he said.

The speed limit on 12 Mile Road is 40 mph. The stretch between Dequindre and Ryan roads is traversed by an adjusted daily average of 13,500 vehicles, according to a 2011 traffic study reported by SEMCOG. At the intersection, the traffic signal turns green simultaneously for both eastbound and westbound motorists on 12 Mile.

But on Dequindre, drivers face delayed signaling. The light remains green for 20 seconds for southbound drivers and those turning left onto eastbound 12 Mile, before the light for northbound motorists changes from red to green.

The speed limit on Dequindre at that location is 45 mph. The portion of Dequindre from 12 Mile to 13 Mile is used by an average of 15,000 vehicles per day.

To see the locations of the 10 intersections in Macomb County that had the most accidents from 2008-12, go to https://mapsengine.google.com/map/edit?mid=z3QOzOBNQw0o.kQu5aW9tWUHk